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Gun owned by Poulsbo man discharged in Silverdale store

SILVERDALE — A 58-year-old Poulsbo man with a concealed weapon permit accidentally dropped his pistol which discharged in Cost Plus World Market about 1:53 p.m. Jan. 5, the Kitsap County Sheriff’s Department reported.

According to the report, a witness "heard a bang … looked towards the middle of the store, to see a male approximately 20 feet from him picking up a two-shot Derringer type gun. The male stated the pop was a balloon and proceeded to put the gun in his pocket.”

When interviewed, the 58-year-old man told sheriff’s deputies he had the gun, a .38-caliber, two-shot Derringer pistol with no trigger guard, and holster in his waistband and "decided to put it in his coat pocket while in the mall … He bent over to pick up something and the gun fell out of his pocket and discharged."

The bullet traveled about 15 feet, according to sheriff’s spokesman Deputy Scott Wilson. The bullet hit the feet of a display daybed and came to rest inside a basket.

Staff members announced over the intercom that everyone should evacuate, and marked off the area for law enforcement to investigate. Witnesses described the man and said he went inside the Barnes and Noble Bookstore next door. Wilson said deputies found the man inside the store, talking to store security.

There were about 35 customers and staff members inside Cost Plus World Market at the time the gun discharged. A supervisor at the store said the store would seek reimbursement for damage to the items, according to the report.

The man was not arrested, but the report has been forwarded to the prosecutor's office, which could choose to charge the man with reckless endangerment.

Gun-carrying laws vary from state to state, but in Washington residents are allowed to carry legally-permitted weapons in most public and private places, with the exception of county jails or state correctional facilities, courthouses and courtrooms, public mental health facility, inside an establishment where the primary source of business is the service of alcoholic intoxicants, security areas of airports, and schools.

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